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The UL men’s and women’s basketball teams will open Sun Belt Conference play in the 2015-16 season Jan. 2 at home against Appalachian State.

The Sun Belt released its conference schedule Monday, with the exception of five rivalry games whose dates have not been decided.

One of those five to-be-determined games: UL at UL Monroe.

League play kicks off with five games Dec. 30, but the Ragin’ Cajun men and women are idle from SBC play that date.

The first SBC road game for UL’s men and women is Jan. 7 at Arkansas-Little Rock.

That’s part of a set that also has the Cajuns playing Jan. 9 at Arkansas State, and it opens a stretch with four straight SBC games — including ones at Georgia Southern and Georgia State — on the road.

A five-game homestand follows beginning with a Jan. 21 visit from South Alabama and ending with a Feb. 2 from UL Monroe.

UL plays another four straight on the road from Feb. 18-27, starting at Texas-Arlington and finishing at South Alabama.

One key date for the Cajun men: Defending Sun Belt-champ Georgia State visits the UL on March 3 at the Cajundome.

Regular-season play for both UL’s men and women closes March 5 at home against Georgia Southern.

For a second straight season, as expected, Sun Belt teams will play a 20-game conference schedule — all as men/women doubleheaders.

Tip-off times for all games will be announced at a later date.

According to a news release from the SBC, “a majority of the men’s and women’s basketball coaches, with approval by a majority of the 11 athletic directors in the Sun Belt Conference, voted to maintain the 20-game schedule for the upcoming season.”

The conference also announced Monday that the Sun Belt men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be held March 9-13.

For a third straight season, the conference tourneys will be played at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

The host site is up for reconsideration, due largely to attendance concerns, after its current contract with the league expires following the 2015-16 season, SBC commissioner Karl Benson suggested during this past season’s tourney last month.

Again in the coming season, and as expected as well, only the top eight teams from the 11-member conference will qualify for the men’s and women’s tournaments.